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Happy birthday to Joshua Thomas Covert!

Letter to the Editor: Allow next president to appoint ‘the best’ to Supreme Court

Reading the March 1 article about threatened school closings due to lack of legislative action on a state budget, I am reminded of a meeting several years ago with the Senate Republican caucus.We were meeting over dinner in Harrisburg to discuss the lack of appropriate funding for community residential programs for people with developmental disabilities. Funding had been held level for several years in a row despite increases in costs and despite the commonwealth initiative to move people from state hospitals to community programs.One senator, now deceased, told us maybe if we closed some programs and put people on the street we would get more attention from the Legislature. Insanely, he was not kidding.But that is close to where public school funding discussion is now: Close a few schools and maybe our elected officials will pay attention and act. That is just as absurd as the suggestion for community residential programs. Just as we would not use clients as pawns in a state political game, neither will we use public school students. Enough.Both parties need to sit down and hammer out a budget with compromises on both sides. The people do not elect representatives to conduct town meetings, they elect them to do something.If they cannot, then maybe the next ones in can.Tom PughHunlock Creek

Letter to the Editor: School shutdowns an unacceptable way to ‘solve’ budget standoff